What happens when the bully apologizes 60 years later and the story goes public? 'Amazing grace'

TINLEY PARK, Ill. - In the month since Bruce Smit apologized to sisters Kathleen Rys and Lorraine O'Kelly for sins he committed some 60 years ago when all were students at Monee Elementary School, the three have become friends.

It is an unexpected outcome to a long torturous journey for all.

"There's a kind of peace now," Lorraine said. "It's nice."

On a recent Monday morning, I sat down again with Smit, a Frankfort podiatrist, and the Rys sisters - Lorraine, who lives in Tinley Park, and Kathleen, of Oak Forest.

We gathered at the same Tinley Park Panera Bread where we'd originally met, this time to talk about the merits of sharing a personal story rife with humiliation and remorse with the Daily Southtown and Chicago Tribune. The article was subsequently picked up by news organizations all over the country.

I told them about the feedback I received, which was considerable. Emails